Two Thoughts from Preachers Adrian Rogers and Colin Smith

 AR “I do not believe the ‘monkey myth.’” Great analysis. Evolution is a myth, rather than the Genesis account being imaginary.

CS I reject the idea that we often hear that, “God sends people to hell because they reject His Son, Jesus, even when they did not know of Him.” (The caps are probably not in the original authors’ intent.)

The fallacy that this thinking exposes, is that all people are “neutral” and the decision to accept Christ or to reject Him determines their eternal destiny. The error in this thinking is that no one is “neutral.”  We are all sinners, and under the wrath of God. The sentence for our condition is death. Here is an example that I hope will help to clarify the situation.

A prisoner has been tried and convicted and taken to jail to begin to serve the sentence. The sentence is execution, or life without parole. There is no hope for him ever being released. Then the Governor or someone with the authority, gives him a pardon. And, in fact, the entire crime will be erased, expunged from the record.

But the prisoner declines the offer of not just clemency, but of total pardon. He may not believe it. He may have some other reason for rejecting it. Perhaps he feels like he deserves the penalty. Regardless, that person’s choice did not send him to the death chamber. That was already determined by his actions and the judgment rendered against him. He had the choice of being forgiven and set free. His option was to accept or refuse the offer and consequently pay the just penalty that he had deserved.

John 3:36 explains that for us.

The one who believes in the Son has eternal life; but the one who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.”

The picture is the same. The subject here, the one, has the option of choosing life or refusing it.  Choosing Jesus, the Son, bestows eternal life. Not just a natural life as in our illustration, but eternal life. But...the one who does not choose the Son, “obey Him” in the verse, will not see life. And notice the final statement.

“The wrath of God remains on him.” It does not say the wrath of God will come on him, as in the original statement above. He did not “earn” wrath, by refusing. The “wrath” is already on the prisoner. He has the choice of keeping it, by not believing, and continuing to be subject to the penalty imposed by the wrath. This, I might add, is a just penalty, not a capricious judgment rendered by a whimsical, mythical somebody, somewhere. Like the prisoner above, he may not believe that it was true, or he may deliberately reject the pardon. Either way, the consequence is to allow the decreed penalty to be executed.

This is an occasion for us to love the Lord even more fully. We were guilty and condemned. Let’s check how Paul defined it for us. Romans 1:18

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of people who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,

We can substitute “ignore the truth” for “suppress the truth.” And why are we subject to the wrath of God? Paul continues in Romans 4:15.

...for the Law brings about wrath, but where there is no law, there also is no violation.

The Law does not make us sinners. It points out how we have failed to keep God’s standard. A speed limit sign does not make me an offender. It tells me what the limit is, and my glance at the speedometer tells me my condition. I am either a lawbreaker or a law keeper, observing and obeying the law. And, similar to the situation where radar-enabled cameras are deployed in some locations, we approach the situation of life: God is aware of every violation. The enforcers of the law have access to every instance of violation.

A quick glance at the Ten Commandments will confirm any honest evaluation, that we are indeed, guilty. We are, I am, guilty of breaking at least one, and most probably all ten. We are under the condemnation of wrath. 

But God.... Don’t you love that connecting phrase? But God has revealed His love, mercy, and grace. He made a way for us to avoid the penalty, the just penalty, of our offense, offenses.

And that brings us to our response. We love Him. Actually, because of His love for us, we have the opportunity to escape the coming judgment of wrath. And we love Him for that. 

We have to choose. We just have to choose Christ. Choose life. Choose wisely.